Movies & TV Shows from Congo

61 years after his assassination, Patrice Lumumba returns to his country. "Congo returns to Congo" as one of his children said. Lumumba was a nationalist leader who intended to use his country's enormous wealth for the benefit of his people. He became the first Prime Minister in the history of Congo on June 30, 1960, when the country gained its independence after 80 years of Belgian colonial rule. Seven months later, he was assassinated in Katanga province with two of his best political allies: Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo. Their bodies were dissolved in sulfuric acid and only one of Patrice Lumumba's teeth remained. This "relic" was taken from Lumumba's corpse and kept in secret by a police commissioner until his death in 2000. The assassination of the nationalist and anti-colonialist leader was followed by the advent of the dictator Mobutu, who was able to remain in place until 1997, thanks to Western support.

In the cobalt mining areas of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), babies are being born with horrific birth defects. Scientists and doctors are finding increasing evidence of environmental pollution from industrial mining which, they believe, may be the cause of a range of malformations from cleft palate to some so serious the baby is stillborn. More than 60% of the world’s reserves of cobalt are in the DRC and this mineral is essential for the production of electric car batteries, which may be the key to reducing carbon emissions and to slowing climate change. In The Cost of Cobalt we meet the doctors treating the children affected and the scientists who are measuring the pollution. Cobalt may be part of the global solution to climate change, but is it right that Congo’s next generation pay the price with their health? Many are hoping that the more the world understands their plight, the more pressure will be put on the industry here to clean up its act.

Forest dwellers pound drums upholding rituals while urbanites cry "Progress!" More plunder the land's riches but newly defiant ones shout back.

George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as The Rumble in the Jungle, was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphaël) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo), between undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. The event had an attendance of 60,000 people and was one of the most watched televised events at the time. Ali won by knockout in the eighth round.

A young man with dreams of pursuing a career in music moves form his small village to the capital. Along the way he falls head over heels for a woman - the same woman his boss is also pursuing for his own reasons.

In Kinshasa, rumor has it that the constitution includes 14 articles. And in order to face the increasing poverty of the people, politicians who have abandoned them are said to have promulgated an Article 15 proclaiming: "Citizens, get out of the mess yourselves!" But as the social situation disintegrated even more, a second Article 15 was apparently added and immediately adopted: "Citizens get out of the mess all over again!" Article 15A expresses the loser's triumphant laughter. In this contemporary fable, three security guards reveal their lowly nature while talking leisurely in the midday heat about public service, corruption, and back pay.

For 25 years, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been ravaged by a war that has largely been ignored by the media and the international community. The victims run into the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. The perpetrators of these crimes are countless: rebel movements, but also armies, those of the Congo and neighboring countries.

Max wakes up one morning and discovers that his wife Hélène has left him in his sleep, without a word, taking their two children with her. He doesn't understand. The nights drag on, his demons get involved, he chooses to face them and to anchor himself in reality. He probes his feelings, revisits from top to bottom the artifice of his life. Max ends up rediscovering his love for Hélène and decides to win her back. But isn't it already too late?

Mweze Ngangura takes us to his native region, Ngweshe, one of he six Bushi kingdoms in the province of Kivu, in Eastern Zaïre. In this region of the Great Lakes, wealth is mesured in heads of cows and in length and breadth of banana plantations. Intermixed with commentaries of the director, are those of the King, Mwami Pierre Ndatabaye Weza III, divulging the daily realities of this traditional African kingdom as it confronts the modern world. The third narrator, Makura, is a storyteller. This guardian of traditional knowledge and collective memory teaches the children the proverbs, customs and mythologies of the region. « The King, the Cow and the Banana Tree » sheds light on the dramatic events unfolding in neighbouring Rwanda, particularly in a prophetic sequence where a seer predicts calamities that will take place in the countries surrounding Ngweshe.

This documentary offers the reflections of filmmakers shot at FESPACO 1991. Djibril Diop Mambéty, David Achkar, Moussa Sene Absa, Mambaye Coulibaly, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Mansour Sora Wade... express their faith in the eternity of African cinema.

INFINITE TROLLING toys with the infinite scroll that fuels social media – and this erratic stream of content as a path to desensitization. Oscillating between narratives, the film moves through a series of disjointed yet intertwined vignettes, finding a disquieting sense of the surreal in the art of assemblage.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has endured 20 years of devastating violence. Rape has been used as a weapon of war to destroy community and access precious minerals. Congo is often referred to as “the worst place in the world to be a woman.” "City of Joy" tells a different story of the region. The film focuses on Jane, a student at a center where women who have suffered unimaginable abuse join together to become leaders. We also meet the founders of the center: a devout Congolese Doctor, a Congolese activist, and a radical N.Y. playwright. The film weaves between joy and pain as these individuals band together to demand hope in a place so often deemed hopeless.

STOP FILMING US BUT LISTEN (2022) takes a closer look at the imbalance of power inherited from colonialism and its consequences on the representation of The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In his documentary STOP FILMING US (2020), set in the city of Goma in DRC, Dutch filmmaker Joris Postema examined the link between stereotypes and this skewed balance of power. After a screening of STOP FILMING US in Goma, the audience wondered if the film could tell a different story using the same footage. Together with producer Ganza Buroko, filmmakers Bernadette Vivuya and Kagoma Twahirwa re-edited the footage to make a version that better reflects their perspective and does justice to their own experiences.

Christine is head of the financial department at the Kintambo maternity ward. Her job is to ensure that all patients have paid the hospital fees. Rémy is CEO of one of the largest mining companies in the country. His penchant for women will tarnish his relationship with his family, particularly his 12-year-old son. Muknya, a night taxi driver, dreams of reaching the Schengen area but circumstances do not make his task easy. Viya, who has just lost her father unexpectedly, will cross paths with each other.

In the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Furaha and Venantie, forge an unbreakable bond after experiencing unimaginable trauma. Together, they ignite a movement of empowerment that transcends their pain and inspires an entire community to reclaim their future.

After spending years in Belgium, a young Congolese man returns to his birthplace of Kinshasa to confront the intricacies of his family and culture.

People no longer know what the medical assistants were: neither the Belgians, who created this medical category during the colonisation of the Congo; nor the Congolese, who have let this portion of their history sink into oblivion. Tracing the steps of her grandfather – formerly a medical assistant, now a doctor – a Congolese filmmaker uses a family history to portray 37 years of Independence.

Photographer and visual artist Sammy Baloji’s fascinating film essay explores the Democratic Republic of Congo’s colonial history and its ecological significance. Drawing on research from the 1930s, the film highlights the Congo Basin’s vital role in consuming carbon dioxide and shaping global environmental balance over a century.

Ancestral patterns combined with modern prejudices and stigma explain skin bleaching.